Braum’s Cuts Cone Prices to $1.45, No App Downloads Needed

Braum’s is cutting the price of its ice cream cones to as little as $1.45 apiece on July 19, one day only, to mark National Ice Cream Day. The junior cone, the double-dip cone and the double-dip hot fudge sundae are all discounted at every one of the chain’s stores, then prices snap back the next morning.

Dozens of national brands are marking the same holiday this week by chasing app downloads and rewards sign-ups instead of cutting prices outright. Braum’s skipped that playbook. The Oklahoma City chain can do it because it still owns the cows.

A Cone for $1.45, No App Required

The discount applies at every Braum’s location on July 19 and nowhere else once the day ends. There is no rewards app to download, no promo code to enter and no minimum purchase attached. Order at the counter and the lower price rings up automatically.

• Junior or single-dip cone – $1.45
• Double-dip cone – $2.00
• Double-dip hot fudge sundae – $3.19

Braum’s operates in five states, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas, and the one-day pricing applies company-wide because every store is company owned. There are no franchisees who could opt out of it.

The Presidential Proclamation Behind the Holiday

National Ice Cream Day exists because of Ronald Reagan. On July 9, 1984, the president signed Presidential Proclamation 5219, declaring July of that year National Ice Cream Month and July 15, 1984, National Ice Cream Day.

The proclamation followed a joint resolution from Congress sponsored by then-Senator Walter Dee Huddleston of Kentucky. Reagan’s text made the case in economic terms as much as sentimental ones.

Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food, enjoyed by over ninety percent of the people in the United States.

Reagan wrote that line in the 1984 proclamation establishing the holiday, adding that Americans had eaten more than 887 million gallons of ice cream the year before. The observance has stuck to the third Sunday of July ever since, even though the original resolution only named a date for that one year.

The economics were real too. Ice cream generated roughly $3.5 billion a year at the time, and the proclamation noted that nearly ten percent of all milk produced by American dairy farmers went into making it, tying the holiday directly to the dairy industry Braum’s still calls its backbone.

An Industry Built on App Downloads for One Day

Forty-two years after Reagan’s proclamation, the holiday has become a marketing event for the food industry. Dozens of national chains rolled out National Ice Cream Day offers this week, and most of them require a smartphone before they require a purchase.

Dairy Queen is giving away a free Dilly Bar with a $1 minimum purchase, but only inside its rewards app. Baskin-Robbins Rewards members get $5 off orders of $20 or more. Häagen-Dazs is running a buy-one, get-one sundae deal exclusively for rewards members. Marble Slab Creamery’s free small ice cream is for loyalty members only.

A handful of chains skip the sign-up. Friendly’s is giving away a free cone or dish to any guest who walks in, no purchase or membership required, and Dippin’ Dots is doing the same with free mini cups at its franchise locations nationwide.

Braum’s is not giving anything away for free, and it is not asking for an email address either. It just charges less for one day, no download necessary.

Why Doesn’t Braum’s Need a Rewards App?

Braum’s does not run a loyalty app because it does not need one to control its costs. The Oklahoma chain owns the cows, the land, the processing plant, the bakery and the trucks that deliver milk to its own stores, a level of vertical integration that keeps overhead down without chasing rewards-program sign-ups.

The company has described itself as the only major ice cream maker in the country that still milks its own cows, according to a profile in Retail Merchandiser magazine. Everything downstream, cones included, is baked and bottled by Braum’s employees rather than outside vendors.

That structure, the company says, is what keeps costs down and preserves quality control over every batch, since nothing has to clear an outside supplier’s margin first.

The operation runs on roughly 40,000 acres of farm and ranch land outside Tuttle, Oklahoma, and every Braum’s store sits within about 300 miles of it, close enough that delivery trucks return home each night.

From a Kansas Butter Plant to a 40,000-Acre Farm

The company’s roots go back nearly a century, long before Oklahoma entered the picture.

1. 1933: Henry Braum leases a small building in Emporia, Kansas, and starts a butter processing plant during the Great Depression.
2. 1940: Henry adds ice cream processing to the business.
3. 1961: His son, Bill Braum, buys the company from his father and purchases his first dairy farm in Emporia.
4. 1967: Bill sells the retail stores, called Peter Pan Ice Cream, to a wholesaler, keeping the dairy herd and agreeing not to sell ice cream in Kansas for a decade.
5. 1968: Bill and his wife, Mary, open the first Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store in Oklahoma City. Twenty-three more follow that same year.
6. 1975: The dairy herd, more than 900 cows, relocates from Kansas to Tuttle, Oklahoma, in a trucking convoy the company still calls a modern-day cattle drive.
7. 1978: Braum’s opens its own bakery in Oklahoma City to supply cones, buns and bread to every store.
8. 1987: A 260,000-square-foot processing plant goes up on the Tuttle farm itself.
9. 2026: The family-owned company, now run by Bill’s son, Drew Braum, as president and chief executive, operates more than 280 stores across five states.

That last entry is still being written.

More Stores Are Coming, Just Not Everywhere Yet

Braum’s opened a new store in Greenwood, Arkansas, on April 28, a 6,000-square-foot location with a Fresh Market section and seating for about 80 guests.

“We’re excited to bring Braum’s to the Greenwood community,” said Drew Braum, the company’s president and chief executive, in a news release announcing the store. “We look forward to serving our customers with fresh food, quality dairy products and a welcoming environment.”

More Arkansas stores are on the way. Braum’s has confirmed plans for its first location inside Little Rock’s city limits, on Chenal Parkway, along with a new store in Russellville and another already under construction in Conway. A spokeswoman said the Little Rock store is not expected to open until at least 2027.

Texas is moving faster. Braum’s opened its first Longview location in November, with two more planned for the city this year. Kansas is moving slower. The company confirmed in 2025 that it owns three sites in Topeka, but a spokeswoman said this year’s construction schedule does not include any new Kansas stores.

For now, the $1.45 cone lasts one day. The expansion does not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is National Ice Cream Day Always on July 19?

No. National Ice Cream Day falls on the third Sunday of July every year, so the date shifts. Reagan’s original 1984 proclamation only named July 15 of that specific year, but the tradition of celebrating on the third Sunday has held every July since, landing on July 19 this year.

Does the Discount Cover Frozen Yogurt Cones Too?

Yes. Braum’s one-day pricing covers both the ice cream and frozen yogurt versions of the junior and double-dip cones. The hot fudge sundae discount applies to the ice cream version only.

How Many Braum’s Stores Are There, and Where?

In the most recent public count, Braum’s operated 128 stores in Oklahoma, 99 in Texas, 27 in Kansas and 13 each in Arkansas and Missouri, adding up to more than 280 locations across five states.

What Other Ice Cream Chains Have Deals This Week?

Beyond the chains already gating offers behind rewards apps, Dippin’ Dots is giving away free mini cups at all of its franchise locations nationwide, Shake Shack is selling any frozen custard for $3 through mid-August with a promo code, and Carvel is letting customers submit photos of melted dessert mishaps for a chance at a free Carvelanche.